House Wall Mural

Detail of the heart (above)

I painted this wall after reconnecting with Jeremy of Ashes of Kings. It's amazing what a walk in the snow can do for artistic endeavors. The concept came from a drawing i had done previously, and feng shui philosophy (written thoroughly on a pizza box). bringing these ideas together, we decided that the heart is the closest symbol of personal growth through experience.

Tigers Jaw

Screenprinted album covers for the Test pressing for Tigers Jaw edition of 25.

Great Horned Owl

Postcard Series

Vision 9

Business Card

Ideally, This would be my Business card.

MERCILESS INVASION

Working on some postcards for the Holiday Season.

Car Body Repair

Car Body Repair 19 x26"

Here is my latest and greatest. Being used to drawing to completion in one night, i managed to spread this image aout to a little over a week. Its been a daunting week or so getting this done but it has helped me realize that this kind of stuff takes more than one night. Over all it has been very medatative. The rough translation of the foreign text is "open here" as instructed on a box that i found, which was also written in french and english.  enjoy.

Mia Halton

Silkscreen 19 x 26"

Detail

I have been working with a local artist by the name of Mia Halton, Thoughout the past 8 or 9 months, I have printed many beautiful images. This is one of those images.

Pens

The story behind making nib-holders started with me finding a certain breed of Bamboo in Takoma Park, Maryland. A house of friends were kind enough to let me cut down a bunch after I realized that the hollow portion of the bamboo might be the perfect size to hold a pen nib. I was right. Unfortunately, The variation of the abundant plant was so great that the first batch of stalks that I brought home only yielded ONE working nib holder. Determined to find more to work with, I went back to Takoma Park with an eye for the approximate size desired to create more holders. With luck, I came home with about 12 working stalks.

The craftsmanship behind them is simple but rather involved. After curing the nibs in my oven (which took some experimenting) and  letting them sit for about a month, I went to work at finishing the product. Polishing the wood revealed beautiful markings of the insects that attempted to devour the fresh plant. The trails the critters leave behind are only topical and do not interfere with the integrity of the wood.  I used the strongest threads available (waxed linen and black button) to support the structure of the wood with the constant changing of nibs. I finally topped it all off with a bit more threading and a tiny screw to help finish the aesthetic and supply a little extra weight. 

If anyone is interested in purchasing one of these hand-crafted pen-nib holders you can email me at alotajam22@gmail.com. I have a very limited supply and have been using one for my own purposes including the drawing in the previous post. These nib-holders are a sturdy tool fit for any studio, and for anyone looking for a greener alternative to those ugly brown holders that come with pen and ink kits. I hope you like the pictures. enjoy

Face

Untitled    9x12"

Been a while since I've drawn something new, I blamed it on lack of Photoshop. but let's face it I'm still stuck in the back-school Mentality of making work in the Fall. Now that the sun is making it's  slow descent to the southern hemisphere the atmosphere is becoming optimal for inspiration. I have been hoarding imagery all summer, and now it's time to get down to business. enjoy.

B-More Artist!

Im on Bmoreart, what a wonderful surprise.

Bmore art 

Fun With Matches - A Show

F.W.M. was a success far beyond my expectations. I would like to thank everyone who showed up for the show, and a special thanks to my family for making it up to Towson to see what I've been up to the last few months. It was hard to juggle friends and family at the show, i apologize to anyone I could not get to talk to that night, but if you are reading this I am very glad you came.

F.W.M. 4-23-2009 7PM

 $10 dollars. Full Image coming soon.

CENTRAL VEIN (B&W/COLOR)

Just in Case You Were Wondering

 Fun With Matches is a title I came up with when thinking of how the creation of fire relates to my recent illustrations. In order to start a fire you need three legs: Oxygen, Heat and Fuel. Without one of the three components, a fire cannot be created. Like fire, our intent to create what's around us (i.e. all things man-made), I find there needs to be three components: kinetic energy, some sort of meaningful intent, and an object in which the intent is acted upon.

The two concepts equate as follows:

Heat = intention or idea ( I like to think of "heat" in terms of a spark)

Oxygen = kinetic energy ( or the physical means to act on an intention)

Fuel = object

When the three come together something is made. I 've been working on images of what happens when the three components cancel each other out. The act is turned upon itself, like a self consuming fire.

 To sum up, Fun With Matches is a collection of images of people destroying themselves when there is nothing to create. For more information on Combustion click here.

This is the inside cover of the book. I was going to make this the cover but i decided to keep the image for a clean white surface, so this will be included in the meat of the book. The Image will be over the credits.

F.M.W.

This is the mock up for my book. The book contains images that are on the blog. Im making an edition of 10 books, which will feature the poetry of Andrew Payton.  I hope to finish production by the opening of my show. This pools all of the things i have learned in the last 4 or five years. I feel very lucky to have the knowledge and skills to do something like this. 

Fun With Matches - A Book

I will be screenprinting this poster for my up coming book and first solo show. The dimensions will be 16" x 20" and might come in different colors. Im going to try to make a very limited edition (20 0r so) to sell for a reasonable price. The show will correspond with the senior Art Exhibit April 23rd. If you come on that day you will get more bang for your buck ( I'm talking Time Bucks here). so please come out to see it. All the info will be posted shortly

Fun With Matches - A Book

DRUMATTIX

www.100dbs.com 

Drumattix - New York

  I took a trip to new york this past weekend to paint a logo on a wall.  My long time pal Dan Brenner (of Brenner's Breaks and 100 dbs ) commissioned me to paint his wall with his recent brainchild DRUMATTIX. We have been known to team up in the past with the wall painting, but i have to say that this is my far the most efficient wall project by far. With the help of fellow artist Sarah Kirby  and her magical projector, we got the image on the wall in one weekend (sans sleep).

Contact

Darkroom

Darkroom is a book showcasing found images of structures that that intend to invite, such as a new greenhouse edition, or a refurbished living room (both previewed). Once taken out of their original context, however these structure look like old crime investigation snapshots. Doghouse, in the same vein as Darkroom, take men at work on there private devices out of original context. Isolating the "characters", surrounded by dark and muted backdrops, reveals a dourly appearance in each "scene".

Ball

Engage

Repeat

Install

Contact

Insert

Icon

#1 Googled celebrity in America 3 years running. If loving you is wrong, Britney, I don't wanna be right.

Nightwatch

Show

In/Out

Tease

Suck

Ball